This is so true; I pay more in taxes than I pay for anything else because of HST and City Taxes along with Income Tax. It is my largest expenditure but what do I get in return? I do get police protection, fire protection, medical care, regular collection of recyclables/garbage, maintenance of the city streets, (education for the city's children, welfare care for those in need, etc) and the three party system of government which we also pay taxes to help support them (something I do not actually believe in). I would go for it if I had the option each year on my income tax to choose to whom I would give that money. But since that money is skimmed off without any input from us and unlikely to change I made a decision at the time. I do not give money to the political parties. When they eliminate that tax collection by an act of parliament then I will support the political party that I feel represents my views which are generally conservative up until PM Harper and some of his decisions. If a party can not survive without that money then why do we have those parties - I see the Liberals and the Conservatives still doing very well (and probably the Parti Quebecois) otherwise we do not need all those other parties that exist in Canada. They split the vote and create these situations where a party has insufficient members voted in to maintain an efficient government without support. The Liberals win about 75% of the time and that has given us a very effective country with enough "socialism" to keep children fed and healthy; protect pregnant women and help those who are injured and old (all of our responsibility as a caring country). The Conservatives are the "adjusting" party who bring in all those things that people object to like the GST which has really set up Canada to be a much more progressive country able to support the poverty that was here when I was a child. They cut the public service of items that they feel are superfluous (my job as a proofreader was one of those cuts but I had a new job very quickly still as a proofreader hired to do my work at home). The GST is a safety net for which we should forever thank PM Mulroney and should be restored to 7% or even 10% because it taxes the rich primarily (they can afford it just as we can on the things that we pay it on but there are lots of exemptions for those struggling to make ends meet). Reducing it was a dreadful error on the part of PM Harper. So we see the roles clearly defined for these parties and we do not need the people who have either very strong conservative views or very strong liberal views heading up our country and we should avoid electing someone who is so far to the left or the right. We need the middle people who think yes children should have medical care (and adults), children should have food on their plate three times a day (and we can afford that as a country but I expect people who have shortfalls to at least attempt to grow food (there are gardening areas available for rent). Going to university for all children is in fact a lovely idea; they come out of school so early now but it is very expensive and doesn't really justify the government making tuition free. The community colleges need more scholarships so that more children can go there into the trades which, one might say, is the most needed and important work here in Canada at the moment. Houses are built by tradesmen!
The other reason I pay more taxes than anything else is that I do not travel. I am not going to travel. I have traveled enough to last me a lifetime; at 79 I am done traveling to any great extent. Yet Edward was planning an extended trip to Germany and the Netherlands (and I would have gone to help him for sure) and then I have to admit I would have cheerfully gone to The Galapagos another spot he wanted to go to. I now have no desire to go anywhere particularly unless it is here in Canada. I have not yet made it to the west coast or the northern coast but I have seen lots of Eastern Canada all the way to Manitoba in Central Canada. I am writing now, books on my families using the material that I have (and others) collected through this 21 years of surname research that I engage in. Who would have thought I would spend my retirement doing that; certainly not me! I had no interest in genealogical research until I did primarily pushed by my cousin George DeKay who wanted a profile on the Pincombe family for his book he was editing. I had watched (and helped when asked) Edward for years work on his family tree and American research is very very difficult. His people arrive in southwestern Ontario in 1800 bringing some information with them and their application for land as settlers have been revealing but finding the father of Isaac Kipp was his life's genealogical work and except for the yDNA that was part of him he never located the name of that person just knows that his ancestor was Hendrick Hendricksen Kip of New Amsterdam/New York and before that a small village in the eastern part of The Netherlands that sticks into Germany. Intriguing for sure and he enjoyed every moment of that research.
However, this year I have been doing house repairs and it could be that eventually the cost of that will equal the taxes that I am paying and I can not claim any of it! Too bad, life is all about Taxes for sure. An interesting comment on the news feed for sure - Taxes are Canadians biggest expense but actually I think for young people it is housing for sure. Our first house was a lovely bungalow for just over $20,000 in 1974. I wanted to buy one just a couple of years earlier and it was only $3000 and also a slightly smaller older bungalow! The price for a bungalow now is shocking actually. But then salaries were a lot smaller back in the 60s and 70s.
No comments:
Post a Comment